Pulse width influence in fast frequency measurements using rational approximations

•The effect of pulse width in frequency measurement is researched.•For rational approximations principle, new measurement properties were found.•Properties of pulse width allow to improve real frequency measurement process.•New parallel signal processing method improves measurement.

Many applications have been proposed for the frequency measurement principle using rational approximations; every measurement has an error value that is related to the resolution of the measuring tool; in this technique, measuring is done by comparing an unknown frequency and a known frequency signals. Theoretically, the error in measurement in the mathematical model of this principle is limited only by repeatability of the standard. But in practice, for arbitrary combination of unknown and reference signal, the pulse width of the signals can modify the method application; In this work a criterion for choosing the optimal pulse width values is defined, by investigating the relationships between the reference signal’s period and the pulse width.